1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transporting substrates in an organic light emitting diode (OLED) process.
2. Description of Related Art
In the manufacture of electronic devices, an issue is to promote efficiency and reduce cost by modifying processes, meanwhile the organic light emitting diode (OLED) which is one of the most significant display technologies still has many unresolved problems in mass production.
FIG. 1 shows the layout of a prior relevant display process, in which an unclosed transferring case 91 is moved between several independent closed processing modules such as pretreatment units 921, 921xe2x80x2, panel preparation units 922, 922xe2x80x2, deposition units of emitting materials 923, 923xe2x80x2, deposition units of cathode materials 924, 924xe2x80x2, and encapsulation units 925, 925xe2x80x2. In a conventional method and apparatus, the substrates are exposed to air and easily contaminated before and during transportation. Additionally, it""s also necessary to adjust the environmental condition of the processing module after the substrates arc moved therein, since the environmental conditions of the processing modules are changed while transporting substrates. Moreover, the organic emitting materials is highly moisture sensitive. The trace moisture in air leads to the degradation of organic materials and the failure of OLED. Therefore, there is a need for the above transporting procedure to be improved.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for transporting substrates in an OLED process, so that the substrates can be reserved in desired environmental conditions to prevent atmosphere contamination and to improve the OLED yields, since the inside atmosphere of a transferring chamber can be controlled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for transporting substrates in an OLED process, so that the process operation and layout of the factory can be more flexible by moving the transferring chamber arbitrarily.
To achieve the above objects, it""s necessary to adjust the environmental condition of the transferring chamber to be the same as the processing modules by an environmental conditioner. The environmental conditioner may include a pumping system, a gas regulator to input purified gas such as nitrogen or helium, and an atmosphere detector, which can control or detect the conditions of the transferring chamber, such as species, dew points and pressure of gas, moisture content, and temperature.
After the environmental condition of the transferring chamber is adjusted as desired, the transferring chamber can communicate with the desired processing module and the substrates can be transported in a closed space by a robot device. When finished, the transferring chamber can discommunicate with the processing module, and be moved to next processing module.
The transferring chamber aforementioned has a vessel to contain substrates and at least a gate with a flange. The transferring chamber can be designed to have a door for cleaning or a window for inspecting. The transferring chamber may be shifted on rails or a conveyor. The above processing module also has a vessel to construct a closed space and a gate with a flange, in which at least a processing module is contained.
In order to connect the transferring chamber and the processing module tightly, a connecting unit such as alignment elements or a positioning buffer having alignment elements and mounted on the gate of the processing module may be applied. The alignment elements can be any clamp, joint or connector able to fix the transferring chamber and maintain a closed space.
According to the substrate transporting method and apparatus of the present invention, the substrates can be transported and reserve in specific environmental conditions to avoid contamination, since the inside atmosphere of the transferring chamber can be controlled. Furthermore, the process operation and layout of the OLED factory can be more flexible, since the transferring chamber can be moved arbitrarily.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.